Inside the R-Phils With Director of PR/Media Relations Tommy Viola

Series Tied — Fans Are Watching…

Welcome back for another edition of the “Philling You In” blog.

I watched a lot of sports this weekend, and enjoyed almost all of them.

Over the weekend, fans had the chance to see the Penn State Nittany Lions improve to 7-1 with a 34-24 win at Northwestern. It’s been an impressive year for Joe Pa and crew. The real test, however, will begin this weekend, and continue throughout the rest of the season. Coming up, they face Illinois (23), Nebraska (13), and then go to Ohio State and Wisconsin (4) to end the season.

Fans also had a chance to see just how bad the Indianapolis Colts are without Peyton Manning — they lost 62-7 to the Saints — wow! And, fans got a glimpse at just how bad the Raiders were with the newly-acquired Carson Palmer (28-0 loss to the Chiefs). Palmer and starter Kyle Boller threw three interceptions each! For those keeping track, that’s six interceptions.

Thanks to that awful Colts-Saints game, more people watched the World Series on Sunday night — wooohoo! And, hopefully the same people that tuned into Game 4 will be back for Game 5 tonight. With another bad football game set for tonight, fans would be smart to tune in to Game 5. Watch a game that matters!

And, if you need a little incentive, here you go…

Albert Pujols launched three home runs in Game 3 on Saturday. Don’t you want to watch the best player in baseball on the big stage each night? You have at least two more chances to see him as a Cardinal. By the way, if you like offense, St. Louis won that Game 3 slugfest by a score of 16-7. With that, the Cardinals took a two games to one lead over the Rangers. Don’t forget to tune in to see former R-Phils infielder Nick Punto.

If you like pitching, than Game 4 was for you.

Enter Derek Holland, who may have the greatest mustache ever!

Holland, 25, posted a 16-5 mark with a 3.95 ERA in 2011 for the Rangers. The Ohio native finished first in the America League in shutouts (four), fourth in the AL in complete games (four), and fourth in the AL in wins (16). It was a breakout year for the young lefty, his Game 4 performance was one for the ages.

On Sunday, Holland was marvelous. The young lefty dominated Cardinals hitters each inning, and pitched into the ninth. In the ninth, Holland allowed a one-out walk, and then fought for his chance to remain in the game.

Manager Ron Washington strolled to the mound and talked it over with Holland. The 25-year-old urged his manager to let him stay in — it didn’t work. He was pulled for closer Neftali Feliz, who eventually would shut the door on Game 4 — giving the Rangers a 4-0 win.

The performance by Holland was awesome. Baseball fans all over the world have to be impressed with it. And, he made a case to stay in — gotta love that! Perhaps that was the spark the Rangers will need to win it all.

But, wait, don’t count them as champions just yet. They will have to face Chris Carpenter tonight in Game 5. It will be a rematch of Game 1, as Carpenter will face C.J. Wilson tonight. It’s going to be a good one, I am sure of that.

Continue watching baseball. With the series tied 2-2, things will get even more exciting. And remember, you can always watch football next week!

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.